MEMPHIS, Tenn. — People in a Cordova neighborhood said they feel like they’re out of options with hundreds of pounds of yard waste overflowing into their streets.
Hundreds of yard waste bags are all around Twisted Oak Cove, spilling into the streets. The bags themselves aren’t dangerous, but as they pile up, they’re causing road and flooding concerns.
“Sometimes they’ll go months where they’re right on top of it, but then they’ll go more months without even touching it,” a resident said.
Residents said it’s been almost two months since anything other than their neat green bins have been collected on trash day, and they can’t get an explanation as to why.
“When you don’t hear from them, the first thing you think is, they’re ignoring us, and then once that happens, you talk to your neighbor, ‘Oh, they’re ignoring me too,'” resident Mike McCrory said.
They said yard waste and object pickup has been a problem for years with the City of Memphis, as shown by one resident who gift-wrapped an old toilet, begging for its removal, and yet it’s sat on the curb for weeks.
But residents said it’s never been as bad as this, with bags lining the street, blocking the sidewalk, covering up holiday decorations and even blocking storm drains.
Residents said the bags have already caused minor flooding, and it could get worse.
“It’s covering up the storm drains, or it’s preventing water from getting to the storm drains,” McCrory said. “It’s causing back-up in the streets, especially in this area.”
WREG reached out to the City of Memphis about its yard waste policies but has not heard back.
Residents hope the pick-up and communication will improve.
“If you have some sort of, you know, schedule, that’s the best thing,” McCrory said.
Because of the Christmas holiday, trash wont be picked up Wednesday, and collection will shift one day later.
